it was a lie. it had to be. there was no way such an adorable boy, like the jimin boy he just met, would call him the prettiest boy he's ever seen.

there was nothing pretty about himself, taehyung thought. he was taught that he looked like a monster, and people were afraid of monsters.

••

jimin ended up failing to convince taehyung to go to class without his paper bag, so the younger hid inside of a climber at the park near his house for the rest of the school day.

taehyung thought of texting his online friend, jimin, but pushed that thought aside once he realized everyone was still at school. so he took this time to finish editing his new post, eventually posting it to his instagram.

582 likes

@v.ante my heart is green <3

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@artistlee amazing dude!

@momogram woww where is this 😯

@parkjim your work is so pretty 🥺💞

••

taehyung noticed jimin's comment, so he decided to text him while he was online.

@v.ante hi!

@parkjim hey vante :) i'm in class but what's up?

@v.ante oh sorry to disturb you!

@parkjim you're not disturbing me ☺️ class is almost over anyway

@v.ante ok :p well i'm just waiting to go home

@parkjim i want to go home 😫 today was rough

@v.ante aw noo what happened :(

@parkjim just relationship issues ;( but i met someone pretty today :)

@v.ante what's her name?!

@parkjim oh... i don't remember :,)

@v.ante jimin ah, what  am i going to do with you? 😑

@parkjim i'm sorry!! i swear i'll get her name if we meet again

@v.ante "if" 👀 anyway, i hope you have a better day tomorrow 🥺

@v.ante i have to get going, bye min!

@parkjim bye vante 🥰

••

"how was your day, tae?" taehyung's mother asked as soon as the boy walked through the door.

"it was fine, mom," taehyung answered, pausing for a moment. "i actually have to leave in thirty to go to a friends house for some project."

"friend? what's their name?!" mrs kim quickly asked, surprised her son had made a friend.

"namjoon," taehyung answered. "and don't get your hopes up. we're just classmates."

"okay. well text me when you get there!" mrs kim sadly grinned and the beautiful child she birthed.

she'd go through all of that pain times one hundred for her son.

taehyung just nodded, heading to his room to start his homework.

••

an hour later, taehyung found himself knocking on namjoon's front door. a few moments later, the tall teenager opened the door for taehyung to enter.

once the two entered namjoon's living room, they were engulfed by silence.

no one said a word. namjoon couldn't utter to say one. he was rude to the innocent boy in front of him, and he was starting to feel guilty. apologizing is hard, but to forgive is so much harder.

"we can work in the living room," namjoon's strong voice spoke up. "my parents won't be home 'till after midnight, so we won't be bothered."

taehyung nodded.

"do you speak?" namjoon questioned, accidentally sounding a bit harsh.

"yes, sorry," taehyung's deep and low whisper almost made namjoon jump, as he was not excpecting the boy without a face to have such a voice.

"okay, then let's get to work," namjoon smiled, feeling a bit awkward as he couldn't tell if taehyung was smiling back.

they split up the work evenly, and asked each other questions frequently. taehyung learned that namjoon was a smart and lyrical man, and namjoon learned that taehyung's mind is full of creativity and intelligence.

"this sounds sick, man. who should we get to sing it?" namjoon asked, smiling at taehyung's and his unfinished work.

"we should."

"but i don't sing," namjoon quickly retorted.

"but you have a beautiful voice. plus, i don't sing either." namjoon's cheeks reddened at the complement.

"you know what, fine, we'll sing it. but i—," namjoon was cut off by a ring from the doorbell.

"shit. hide in the kitchen."

namjoon opened the door to find kim seokjin on the other side.

"jinnie, what are you doing here?" namjoon asked, making sure it wasn't obvious that there was someone else home.

"just got out of work and wanted to stop by," seokjin answered, fixing the strap on his backpack.

"sorry baby but i have homework to finish," namjoon replied in almost a whisper, so taehyung couldn't hear from the kitchen.

"whatcha working on? maybe i can help!"

"just a s-song— i mean assignment! i don't need help," namjoon grinned cheekily.

"fine but can i use the washroom?"

"sure thing."

namjoon patiently waited, using his phone, for seokjin to come out of the washroom. this may sound bad, but namjoon doesn't want seokjin knowing that taehyung is here. even if taehyung proved to be a playful and hardworking boy during the hours he was here.

out of no where, namjoon heard a scream coming from the kitchen. that can't be good.

"jin, are you alright?!" namjoon yelled as he was running to where seokjin had gone.

"y-yeah. this man just s-scared me," seokjin breathed heavily, hand to his chest.

"sorry, jin. this is taehyung, we were working on a project," namjoon gestured to taehyung, the younger giving a small wave.

"and taehyung, this is seokjin," seokjin gave a half smile, still surprised about the situation.

"do you still want to stay?"

•

taehyung was sat on the couch, namjoon and seokjin across from him.

"you know, taehyung, you're going to have to take off that bag while recording our song," namjoon mentioned, seeing as it got a bit awkward.

"why?"

"it's going to mess up the audio. taehyung, why do you even need that bag anyways? there's no way that you always have that over your head." taehyung went silent, and seokjin glances between the two.

"i don't want to have a face."

"taehyung, you said there was a medical reason. what does not wanting to have a face have to do with that?"

"it doesn't. don't tell anyone."

"i won't tell anyone... if you show us what's underneath that bag," namjoon smirked, chuckling at his answer.

"why should i do that? you're going to hate me even more." you could hear the frown in taehyung's voice. the two other teenagers felt sad at the younger's words. taehyung may not be that bad if you give him a chance.

"taehyung, dont say that. we don't hate you, you seem cool. we just want to know the face of our new friend," seokjin said, giving a sad smile to taehyung. that had to be one of the kindest things someone has ever said to him. he could not control his emotions. tears started to stain the paper bag.

"i'm sorry, i'm an ugly crier," taehyung sobbed, ripping off the paper bag and wiping his eyes.

namjoon and seokjin weren't expecting what they had just saw, but it was a pleasant surprise.

"i'm sorry," namjoon spoke, his voice breaking.

"it's okay, you've been forgiven," taehyung sniffled, giving his classmates a broken smile.

_____________________

gonna be a long weekend so that's exciting!

kinda stressed for tomorrow but uhhh whatever :,)

also i don't think that girl is interested in me ;(